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Beta(s) :
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To those who may care-
*climbs on soap box*
Ironwood's character in canon is fine, and was written and portrayed well, and none will sway me on that. His character here is completely, totally, without fault, the one from canon. However, events will play out differently, due entirely to the Arbiter, the Chief's, and associated presences, as well as other coming items.
I'm not redeeming or extolling his fascism, or dictatorial tendencies, any more than I praise and extol the UNSC's when I write for them. Their evils are still present, acknowledged, and unchanged. It's just that a greater evil - the Covenant, for Halo stuff, and Salem for RWBY - means they need to be tolerated.
Kind of a USSR in WWII thing, if you follow.
*climbs off soap box*
Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter!
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The great leviathan emerged from black clouds with another bellowing roar that chilled the Arbiter to the bone. Small shapes flocked around it in great swarms of Grimm and a handful of fleeing airships, remnants of the short-lived defense of the falling, burning ships drifting beneath the great whale, casting the beast in hues of flickering fire and smoke that only added to the presence of it all. Occasionally, weapons fire lanced up from the wall, where defenders were desperately trying whatever they could to bring the beast down, but each time they were answered by lances of black-violet carving down.
Or a swarm of Grimm converging on them for what was likely a far more painful end.
"Gods…" Fiona murmured, shattering the silent, fearful reverie that had fallen over the alleyway. "What is that?"
"An end." He rumbled meaningfully, turning and snarling, "Polendina, see to the Spartan's restraint. We need it off. The Black Sun may be needed."
"Understood." Penny nodded, immediately turning and singing to a knee beside the Spartan. When she touched the divide it sent lightning lancing up her arm and she snarled, shaking her hand and turning to him, "Go. I will handle this."
"I-I'll, uh, help." Fiona nodded, patting where her Aura had been broken and grimacing. "I, um, don't trust myself in a fight right now."
"Understandable." He nodded, turning and loping away towards where the gunshots had come from without another word.
He found the door cracked open and almost ruined and sealed its fate by planting a boot to its better hing, shattering it free and sending it careening into the room beyond in a shower of metal, wood and ruined stone. He came in to Ruby and Qrow's back, and when Ruby turned, when he saw her smile, he felt the weight of the world lift free from his shoulders. Qrpw flicked him a look long enough to nod his greeting and then turned back, scythe out at the ready.
Beyond them both stood a moustached man, golden revolver held in one hand while a finger of the other hovered over an array of rings he wore on both hands. He flicked a look up and down the Arbiter, and then his eyebrows furrowed and the edges of his eyes crinkled before his face returned to its flat, bemused expression. Slowly, warily, he slid back a step as the Arbiter stepped up to Qrow's side, energy sword crackling and filling the small-ish room with the smell of burnt ozone and carbon.
A familiar scent in an unfamiliar place.
He let that ground him.
"You must be the alien that simpleton spoke about." The man finally broke the silence, smiling and flicking his hand towards himself ever-so-slightly. "Doctor Arthur Watts, formerly of Atlas. It's an absolutely unparalleled pleasure, I'm sure."
"Not yet it is not." He growled, raising the Prophet's Bane to illuminate the room all the better. "But rest assured, I can make it quite pleasurable shortly. At least for the one of us."
"Ah, another brute…" The self-titled doctor chortled, shaking his head and flexing one of his fingers. "I've a bit of a card in play here, if you catch my drift, so you may wish to lower your sword."
"Qrow…?"
"He tagged Ruby with a thing." The man explained shortly, "It's hooked onto her, and he could do a lot of damage to her with it. He pushes a button on his ring, or we touch it, and it'll go off."
"Cowardice!"
"Cowardice and cleverness are often conflated by people that lack the latter." Watts countered breezily, flicking a look towards the door, and the alarms trilling across the Kingdom. "So, the reckoning comes… I'm going to assume you dealt with that mad man then?"
"Like a bug beneath my heel." The Arbiter rumbled, "You will face the same unless you yield, and release the girl."
"Now why would I do that?" The doctor laughed, a short, arrogant sound that grated on the Arbiter's ears like nails grinding into glass. Bobbing his head at the outside, he explained, "My queen is here, and I have a hostage neither of you will risk. It will take ten hours for the filaments in her intestines to filter out enough for her to be safe, and I doubt you will be able to wait here with the Grimm on their way."
"Ah," he smirked and added, smiling roguishly, "and, for the record, Salem knows where we are. And ought to be on her way shortly, unless she opts to send someone or something to retrieve her… Interests, instead."
"Like what?"
"Nothing that concerns you, Branwen." Watts answered cryptically, smiling and cocking his head, "The silver-eyed girl, the alien, and the… Machine, though?"
"M-Me?" Ruby squeaked, "And Penny?"
"Oh yes." Watts answered, laughing again. "And all for very different reasons. I don't know them all, but… Well, I should warn you that what Salem has in store for those with your eyes is not very pleasant. And my offer still-"
"I-I'd sooner die than be any kind of assistant for you!"
"Ah, well…" The doctor frowned, sighed, and shrugged agitatedly, wagging his finger over the ring that threatened Ruby's doom. "That can be very easily granted, Miss Rose. All you have to do is ask. I'm kind enough to-"
"He is stalling." The Arbiter growled, casting a side-long look on Ruby and rumbling. "Brace yourself, young one. I shall strike at him. Branwen, remove the offending thing attached to your niece, if you would."
"Fuckin'..." He growled, "Yeah. Sorry, Rubes."
"S'okay." She murmured, "I can take it."
"She really, absolutely, definitely can't." Watts warned seriously, backing up a step and flicking a look between each of them. "The charge is lethal to someone her size, once her Aura fails. Which it will, and quickly. Even if she manages to survive, she will suffer severe burns. Nerve damage as well, most likely, of a very career ending variety."
"Every Huntress' career ends that way, eventually." Ruby countered calmly, face a flat mask of grimm determination. "If mine is now… Well, I-I'll just have to live with that. But facing it in this fight, against Salem? That's the best fight there is."
"Ugh, you Huntresses and your hero complexes…"
"Better a life of heroism and a death of passion than a life of cowardice, vanity and greed." Thel rumbled, stepping forward, "Say what prayers you have then, coward."
"Well," Watts sighed, "I suppose it's time, then."
Ruby screamed and collapsed as the lightning took her, and the Arbiter snarled as he lunged, but he only made it a step before his snarl warped into a gasp of rage and pain. He sank to a knee and the Bane slipped from his spasming hand as fire crept up and through him, searing every inch of his arm and shoulder with a pain that could only compare to his Branding so long ago, whose scar ached and boiled in sympathy. He clutched at the wrist the pain came from with his other hand and gasped as the electricity arced up it, too, but the dispersal of it lessened the pain enough for him to breathe.
His eyes locked on the bracelet Ironwood had forced onto him, which glowed bright red as it seared the flesh of his wrist and fried him.
"Fuck!" He heard Qrow shout as he was hurled back by a well-placed shot from the scientist. He hit the far wall and slid down into a heap, Aura sparking, as the doctor paced forward to stand over Ruby.
"Gravity Dust rounds." Watts explained for the man as he staggered to his feet. "Expensive, prohibitively so, but, well… They certainly do pack a punch, don't they?"
Qrow lurched towards him and Watts' gun came up, barkinga shot that missed and a second that caught Qrow in the gut as he dodged the first. The force slammed him into the wall with bone-shattering force, and Watts sighed, flicked his weapon open to replace its ammunition cylinder, and then flicked it closed without a second thought. Growling, the Arbiter forced himself onto his feet and turned to the man and he sighed again, pressing a finger to one of his rings as he turned.
The was unashamed of the bellow that the power arcing through him drew out, ruining his shields and shattering his Aura as he sank to his knees once again, wrapping a hand around the bracelet and doing all he could to crush it.
"Reinforced titanium." Watts informed him, smirking when the Arbiter looked up to him. "Don't worry, the electrical charge should render you unconscious shortly. Then I can take you to Salem and Miss Rose… Well, there is plenty she and I can do together before Salem has time for her own plans."
That…
That would not happen.
Stars swimming in his vision, the Arbiter turned and reached for the Bane. Twice, his vision swam, and his fingers found the floor of the room rather than the hilt of his sword. But, eventually, he found it and forced himself onto shaking legs while Watts backed away, face split in a wide smile.
"You think you can fight?" He huffed, "Like that?"
"No." He snarled, holding out his spasming right arm and flicking the Bane to life with his other hand. "But I can do this."
With a single flick, the pain searing its way along his arm and into his core died. As his hand fell to the ground, he backed away, clutching the burnt stump to his side and sucking in a breath while Watts watched. Snarling, he met the wide-eyed scientists's eyes and held the Bane up between them.
"Now," he snarled, "you die."
"Ah." The doctor blinked, "Well, I'll confess I didn't see that coming."
Watts' hand snapped up and the Arbiter lunged and ducked, slamming his knee into the ground as the wall behind him exploded. His energy sword screamed and scorched its way across Watts' chest and forced the man back a step. Wide-eyed, he brought his handgun down as the Arbiter leapt and slammed his wounded side's shoulder into him. The man grunted a scream as his back slammed into the far wall and the Arbiter snarled, backing away and slamming his shoulder into him again and again while he beat against his armored shoulders weakly.
Finally, he stepped back and to the side and brought a knee up into his stomach as he staggered forward. The man collapsed under the force of the blow, sucking in air and clutching at his stomach as the Prophet's Bane seared across his back and finally shattered his Aura.
Coughing, the man stood and staggered away, for the door.
Ruby and Qrow blocked him, the former leaning on the latter, and Watts blinked and turned as the Arbiter followed him. Weakly, he tried, "I surren- Hrk!"
His words died as the Bane buried itself in his guts and the Arbiter lifted him high above himself, where he could meet his eyes. "My hand, your heart. I told you, the pleasure would be all mine."
"Fair… Enough…"
The Arbiter turned and pitched his body away and off of his sword with a grunt. The body hit the floor as the Arbiter fell to his knees, Bane falling silent as he clutched at the ruined stump that had been his forearm. Ruby was at his side in a second, yanking his arm free and turning to look at him with hard, glinting eyes.
"Does Human medicine work on your kind?"
"For the most part, yes."
"Good." She fished out a little silver box from her waist and clicked it open, revealing an array of syringes and bandages, and plucked one of the former free. Without waiting for his permission, she pressed the needle into his arm and hit the button on the side of it, explaining as she did, "For the pain, and to prevent necrosis."
"Got the hand." Qrow grunted, swearing a bit and pitching the bracelet across the room. He joined them, kneeling in the middle of the floor and holding the hand out. "Got the Duct bandages?"
"Mhm." She nodded, handed a thick roll of bandages to the man and pulling out another to wrap around his injured arm. While she worked, she explained, "After Yang lost her arm, I, uh, decided to start carrying limb trauma kits."
"I see." He blinked, relaxing as the pain dulled and a cool calm settled into the back of his mind. It was a strange sensation, whatever she had given him, and while he did not enjoy it he also did not hate it.
It was certainly better than the pain from before.
Curious, he asked, "What is a-"
"It's a super expensive kit you can buy." Qrow cut him off, wrapping his hand up in a thick bundle of bandages that leaked ice vapor. "Painkillers for if you lose something, and Ice Dust laced bandages specially made to preserve small limbs after amputation. Won't save a whole leg, but a hand? Or a foot?"
"I see…"
"Ruby!" The three of them turned as Penny stepped into the door, half her face covered by long strips of green cloth torn from her dress. She smiled with what lips she had as Ruby stood and turned to her. "You are alright, yes?"
"Y-Yeah, more or less." Ruby nodded, tying off the bandages around his hand and then standing and smiling at her friend. The smile faded when she saw the haphazard bandages, though, and Ruby staggered towards her worriedly, "Penny, your face-"
"I am alright." She said quickly, pressing a hand to the spot to hide it. Voice distortion oddly, she added, "Only minor, superficial damage."
"Lemme see."
"But it's ugly-"
"Lemme see, Pen, you can't be ugly." Ruby grumbled, pulling Penny's hand away with her own and pulling the bandages apart so she could inspect the damage while the Arbiter stood on shaky, tired legs. "Are you sure you're okay…?"
"I am fine."
"Good." Ruby sighed, leaning up to press her forehead against Penny's. The automaton's eyes widened but Ruby ignored it, sighing, "Gods, it's so good to see you again…"
"Really?"
"Mhm," Ruby nodded, reaching up to take both of Penny's hands and staring into her eyes. "I thought I was gonna die… Got me thinking, you know?"
Penny made a sound like a computer system stuttering, flinched, and prattled, "A-A-A-About what, exactly?"
"Well-"
"We need to go." The Spartan said, suddenly appearing in the doorway with Fiona at his side, hovering over him like… Well, rather like a frightened lamb, funnily enough. Ignorant of the moment he'd interrupted, he said, "General Ironwood sent us a ship. We need to go now, all Atlas forces are withdrawing to Atlas itself."
"The bastard is abandoning Mantle!" Fiona shouted, ears flicking in dismay. "He's just… Withdrawing, and leaving everyone behind that doesn't get there!"
"What?" Qrow snapped, hugging the Arbiter's hand to his stomach protectively. Shaking the surprise off, Qrow grunted, "He's… He's got to be planning something. James wouldn't just abandon everyone else like that."
"Yes." Penny cut in, "He would. If he believed it the only way to protect the Relics."
"Relics…?"
"Classified." The Spartan snapped automatically, speaking to everyone else while Fiona blinked in surprise, "Regardless, we have to go. We can work from there, but- Thel."
"I am whole enough, Spartan." He assured the man as he approached, visor locked dead center on his burnt, bandaged limb, waving for the armored human to lead the way with his stump. "Let us go, and speak to the General as soon as we may. We can work from there."
"But, Arbiter-"
"I am fine, my friend." He cut him off, shaking his head, "It is a small price to pay for Ruby's safety. And we've matters to see to regardless."
"Alright." The Spartan half-turned, "Let's go, then."
"I'm coming with." Fiona snapped hotly as Thel passed her, "Someone has to speak for Mantle up there…"
"You may rely on my support as well, on this matter, Miss." The Arbiter offered quietly, "I would not leave any to die, if his will is simply to tuck tail and run. Such cowardice cannot be allowed."
"James would never." Qrow argued hotly, defensively. "I know him, trust me."
No one countered him, for how could they? Instead they marched in silence, moving out to the Bullhead hovering in the alleyway waiting for them.
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Salem watched with an amused little smile as Atlas' fleet - the so-called shining wall that protected the Kingdom - withdrew with barely any fight at all. Which was the wise decision, of course, given how easily she had dispatched the cruisers closest to her emergence point. But it was still rather disappointing.
Rather boring, even.
She'd hoped for a good fight… At least for a little while.
"Mistress." Hazel rumbled from behind her throne as he approached. She turned her head towards him just the slightest bit and he took the permission to speak. "Still no word from Watts. Or Tyrian."
"And their last report was…?"
"That they were about to be attacked, as expected, ma'am." Hazel answered simply, as he always did. "Watts might get distracted enough to forget to report in. But Tyrian…"
"Would never dare to insult me so." She frowned, coming to the obvious conclusion. "So they failed, then."
"Apparently so, Ma'am."
"A shame." Tyrian's loyalty, insane as it was, was a thing not found every century. Nor the doctor's brilliance. To lose both was a blow, but… "Their loss is tragic, but won't impede our cause, Hazel. See to it the children are prepared to join you in taking Mantle while I keep the cowardly General's tail twixt his legs and his fleet at bay."
"Yes, Ma'am." As always, he waited for her permission to leave and for once, she basked in the power she held over him.
"That will be all." She finally said after a quiet moment spent forcing him to watch the exact wanton destruction she knew he hated. As he left, she sighed and murmured, "Soon, Ozma. Soon, there will be only three of your petty puppet nations standing."
And after…
Freedom.
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My, what a DISARMING chapter!
Eh?
Ehhhh?
….okay, I'm sorry.
So, initially, this chapter's plot points were meant to be at the end of last chapter. However, one look at that beast's length will tell everyone why I separated them, lol. I also tweaked dialogue and scenes as a whole to fit more in line with the next arc, which this starts.
Have a good one everybody!
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Black Raptor 1 :
Yeah, my solution to a large cast tends to be 'Murder'. I'm not as good as CRWBY, I can't manage so many people at once. *shrugs* And scum like Adam, and evil people like Tyrian, make good targets for it. XD
And yeah, Ironwood will always abandon Mantle.
The Fish King :
XD
Dasgun :
.
Joecola 00 :
He is indeed! And rather brutally at that. Also, yeah, I wanted Watts to have a bit more to him than what we've gotten so far in canon so I shrugged and made him a lech, too. Seemed fine enough.
TPoynt :
Means what you think it means~
KPMH 2001 :
I'm glad the explanation and building it up solved your initial issue with the pulser. And yeah, I've heard that explanation for how Locke's restraints work. My issue with it was always the rapid recovery and that some Spartans would have AI, which could at least theoretically countermand a broadcasted command. However, from my bit of research, you CAN affect the gel layer with electricity if you design it specially. Normal EMPs don't do it, mind, in my mind this is a special one designed with MJOLNIR vulnerabilities in mind made by the people that would know them.
I'm glad you liked the fight, and thanks for the praise!